Combination coat hanger and hanger support



June 2, 1970 R. 1-. FURTAK ETAL 3, 3

COMBINATION COAT HANGER AND HANGER SUPPORT Filed Feb. 10, 1969 UnitedStates Patent Office 3,515,319 Patented June 2, 1970 US. Cl. 223-85 4Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A supporting member slidable on aclothes pole has a laterally projecting hook with which the eye at theend of a hanger rod is engageable, the hook having a head portion towhich the shank of the hook is attached at an intermediate levelrequiring the hanger rod to be tilted in the course of application orremoval to minimize the possibility of accidental dislodgment.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Many different arrangements have been providedto minimize the tendency of guests in hotels and motels to take aconventional coat hanger with them on termination of their occupancy.The objective is to make the coat hanger unit difficult to use exceptwhen attached to its own supporting unit. One objection to suchassemblies well-known in the prior art has to do with the difficulty ofre-engaging the hanger rod with the supporting unit. Users sometimesfeel obliged to hold the hanger unit with one hand and the supportingunit with the other. If the two units are made to permit separation withundue facility the hanger may from time to time become dislodged fromthe supporting unit.

The closest patented art known to me is found in Leebow Pat. 2,791,335and Reed 2,998,142.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION According to the present invention a supportreciprocable along a conventional clothes pole comprises a sleeve, ahook thereon having a forwardly projecting arm portion, and a headportion in a generally vertical plane from the sleeve by the armportion. The arm portion is joined to the head portion at anintermediate level so that there is a shoulder of the head portion belowthe arm portion. Preferably the arm portion of the hook projects from aflange depending from the sleeve and somewhat offset rearwardly from itscenter.

The hanger has its supporting rod provided at its upper end with an eyeor loop with an opening just sufficient to pass the head portion of theaforesaid hook. Because of the above mentioned shoulder, the rod of thehanger must be tilted to clear the lower end of the loop from beneaththe head portion of the hook before the loop can be lifted from thehook. A corresponding but converse relative movement is required toreplace the hanger on the support.

Because of this shoulder, it is almost impossible for the hanger tobecome dislodged accidentally from the support. Yet the manipulation ofthe hanger for disengagement or engagement is readily possible with onehand.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view inperspective showing the relatively separated hanger and support members.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary detail view in side elevation showing the hangerand support members assembled, the clothes pole being shown in crosssection.

FIG. 3 shows the assembly in front elevation with the coat hangerillustrated in section and the clothes pole fragmentarily illustrated.

FIG. 4 is a view in section on the line 44 of FIG. 3 showing the coathanger rod in course of manipulation for disengagement from the supporthook.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A support member 6 comprises asleeve permanently mounted on a clothes poel 8 and integrally includinga hook 16. A depending portion of this hook may comprise a flange 10preferably offset to the rear of a vertical plane through the axis ofthe sleeve.

A shallow recess 12 is provided in the sleeve to receive a label ifdesired.

Projecting forwardly from the depending flange 10 is an arm 18 which, asbest shown in FIG. 1, is substantially flat in cross section, but ismuch narrower than the flange 10. Supported by the arm 18 is a head 20which extends upwardly from the arm to receive an eye 22 at the end of arod 24 which suspends the coat hanger 26. The eye 22 defines an opening28 which corresponds quite closely in its vertical dimension with theheight of the head portion 20 of the hook 16.

The head 20 has its lower margin 30 at a level below the under surfaceof arm 18, leaving a shoulder at 32 as best appears in FIGS. 2 and 4.Because of this shoulder, it is difficult for the hanger to be displacedaccidentally from its engagement over the arm portion of the hook. Inpractice, the user will tilt the rod 24 to the position shown in fulllines in FIG. 4 whereby the eye 22 will clear the lower surface 30 ofhead 20. In this position, the eye is readily lifted from the hook asindicated in dotted lines in FIG. 4. The parts will readily assume theserelative positions in any normal attempt to engage the eye with the hookor to disengage the eye therefrom. Accordingly, this manipulation canreadily be performed by the user with one hand.

It will be apparent that the particular front elevational form of thehook and the eye is a matter of design. Whereas the eye shown isgenerally rectangular, and the same is true in the cross section of thearm 18, these parts may be elliptical or circular if desired, or mayhave any other appropriate contour. The important feature is to providethe shoulder 32 and to dimension the parts in such a way as to requiretilting of the hanger rod 24 in applying or removing the eye from thehook.

There is one mechanical advantage in the rectangular contours of theparts as shown in that the hanger does not tend to swing but tends tohold the clothing supported thereby in vertically depending position.The head of the hook as shown has the form of an inverted keystone,which makes it attractive without sacrificing the advantages abovedescribed.

We claim:

1. A combination coat hanger and hanger support in which the supportcomprises a sleeve for mounting on a clothes pole and having a headedarm projecting forwardly substantially at right angles to said sleeve,the coat hanger having a suspending rod provided with an eye in a planewhich is transverse respecting the hanger, said eye being of a dimensionto clear the head and to rest on the arm, the head having means belowthe level of the arm providing a shoulder requiring the tilting of therod and eye for manipulation of the hanger to and from engagement withthe arm of the support.

2. A combination according to claim 1 in which the headed arm is part ofa hook which includes a flange depending from the sleeve and offsetreanwardly with respect to a plane extending vertically through the axisof the sleeve, whereby to locate said arm substantially directly belowsaid axis.

3. A combination according to claim 2 in which the arm is generallyrectangular in cross section and elongated 3 4 horizontally but is ofless length than the width of said 2,113,394 4/1938 Biri et a1 223-88flange, said head being substantially equal to said arm in 543,1057/1895 Schroeder 16-172 its horizontal dimension at the level at whichit is con- 634,370 10/1899 Quimby 16172 nected with the arm, and the eyeof said rod having a 839,963 1/ 1907 Schroeder 16172 substantiallyhorizontal surface engageable with said arm. 5 1,613,284 1/ 1927 Moore16-l72 4. A combination according to claim 1 in which said 2,998,1428/1961 Reed 211--113 arm has an elongated upper surface for engagementwith said eye, which is provided with a complementary sunface. FOREIGNPATENTS References Cited 10 983,036 2/1951 France. UNITED STATES PATENTSMERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner 301,356 7/ 1884 Ginn "223-88 G. H.KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner

